View allAll Photos Tagged focusstacking
Polistes dominula.
CANON PowerShot SX50 HS + Raynox DCR-250.
1/13 f/8.0, ISO 80, treppiede.
Focus stacking di 26 scatti con Zerene Stacker.
Esemplare trovato e fotografato inanimato.
Large black longhor beetle, over 1 inch long, on a boat propeller. Prince Albert National Park, Saskatchewan, Canada. 15 August 2022
15 of 20 eggs had hatched 10 days after I found them. The adult oak moth may have laid those eggs the day I found them or any of the pervious 4. See this photo: www.flickr.com/photos/marlinharms/54612201412
Caterpillars are very small, ~3mm (1/8").
San Luis Obispo Co., California
Compare this photo of a caterpillar at Day 19: www.flickr.com/photos/marlinharms/54679902308/
This is a mixed group of marine bivalve shells, not a single species. From shell shape, thickness, and sculpture, most of the large shells appear to be surf clams (Spisula solidissima), with a few probable hard clams/quahogs (Mercenaria mercenaria), at least one small wedge clam/coquina-type shell (Donax sp.), and one small ark shell that looks consistent with a transverse ark (Anadara transversa). Surf clams are characteristically large, thick, pale tan to white, and marked by concentric growth lines; hard clams are broadly triangular-oval and can be dull white, gray, or brown-patterned; transverse arks are thick and strongly ribbed.
Identification and description
Overall confidence: moderate for the group, lower for a few individual shells because the photo shows only exterior views and some shells are worn.
Top center large pale shell
Most likely Atlantic surf clam (Spisula solidissima). It is large, inflated, thick, rounded-triangular, and evenly lined with concentric growth rings.
Top right large tan shell
Also looks like Atlantic surf clam (Spisula solidissima), but more worn and beach-abraded. The broad triangular profile and strong concentric banding fit surf clam well.
Upper left elongated peach shell
Probably another surf-clam-type valve, but more eroded and less certain. The shape and thickness fit that group better than a cockle or mussel.
Center-left large gray-brown shell
Likely hard clam / northern quahog (Mercenaria mercenaria) or a closely related venerid clam. It is broader and more oval-triangular than the surf clams, with a heavier, deeper body and smoother mature surface. Smithsonian’s description of M. mercenaria as a large, broadly triangular-oval shell with distinct growth lines matches this general form.
Center-right glossy orange-brown patterned shell
Probably hard clam / quahog (Mercenaria mercenaria). The warm brown checkered or blotched pattern is more consistent with a quahog than with a surf clam, especially in a younger or less worn shell.
Right-side white shell
Likely a bleached surf clam (Spisula solidissima) or another large clam valve of similar type. The shell is smooth, thick, pale, and bluntly triangular.
Bottom center large cream shell
Another probable surf clam (Spisula solidissima). The shell is broad, thick, pale buff to cream, with concentric growth lines and the typical heavy beach-shell look.
Bottom right large elongated pale shell
Probably surf clam again, though somewhat more elongate. The long, low profile and concentric growth lines still fit that group reasonably well.
Bottom left small yellow-orange shell
Looks like a wedge clam / coquina-type shell (Donax sp.). The small size, wedge shape, smooth exterior, and bright coloration fit Donax better than the larger heavy clams. Species-level ID is not secure from this image alone.
Far lower-left small ribbed patterned shell
Most likely an ark shell, probably transverse ark (Anadara transversa). The thick shell, strong radial ribs, and blockier outline fit ark shells well.
Far right partial pink-and-white shell fragment
Inconclusive from this view. It may be another worn clam valve fragment.
Far lower-right partial gray shell
Also inconclusive; likely another clam valve edge.
What is in the photo, summarized
Majority: large surf clam shells, probably Spisula solidissima
A few others: likely hard clam / quahog shells, Mercenaria mercenaria
Small accent shells: one wedge clam/coquina-type (Donax sp.) and one probable ark shell (Anadara transversa)
Description
This is a collection of weathered marine bivalve shells arranged on a plain background. Most are thick, rounded to triangular clam valves in muted tones of cream, buff, tan, peach, ivory, and brown. Surface textures range from smooth and chalky to glossy and patterned, with visible concentric growth lines on nearly all of them.
The group reads visually as a study in variation of form, age, abrasion, and color within beach-collected shell material.
Forget-me-nots in the cool blue shade of the evening.
If you look closely you can see a couple of aphids enjoying the flowers too.
Had to take a springtail with the MPE-65- taken at 5:1 uncropped. Focus stacked from 2 pics. Bug about 1.8mm long
Identification (most likely components)
Spotted cream stones (top left/center)
→ Dalmatian stone (Dalmatian jasper)
Cream/tan base with black spots
Igneous/microcrystalline quartz material
Light blue-green stones (top right)
→ Amazonite (microcline feldspar)
Characteristic milky turquoise/green color
Often slightly cloudy or streaked
Dark green banded pieces (center)
→ Malachite (likely real or imitation)
Distinct darker banding typical of copper carbonate mineral
Iridescent green shell fragment (center-right)
→ Abalone shell (Haliotis sp.)
Nacre with strong green/blue iridescence
Organic (not a mineral)
Translucent pink/orange stones (bottom left)
→ Likely dyed glass or “opalite”-type material
Uniform color, internal bubbles/flow lines visible
More consistent with glass than natural agate
Orange translucent piece (far right edge)
→ Carnelian or dyed agate (uncertain)
Needs closer inspection; could also be glass
Porous white fragments (edges)
→ Coral or limestone fragments
Pitted structure suggests marine origin (coral skeleton)
Description
A curated grouping of mixed tumbled materials combining:
Natural minerals (amazonite, dalmatian stone, possible malachite)
Organic shell (abalone)
Marine fragments (coral/limestone)
Man-made or dyed elements (pink/orange glass)
Visual characteristics:
Strong color contrast: turquoise/green vs warm pink/orange
Mix of matte (stone/coral) and high-gloss (glass/polished minerals)
Texture contrast: smooth tumbled vs porous skeletal fragments
Pattern contrast: spotted (dalmatian), banded (green), iridescent (shell)
Assessment
Aesthetic strength: high (color and material contrast)
Material authenticity: mixed (natural + decorative glass)
Photographic value: strong due to:
translucency (pink pieces)
specular highlights
surface texture variation
note:
The green banded pieces could be fake malachite (common). Real malachite shows irregular, non-repeating banding.
The pink stones are almost certainly glass, not natural rose quartz or agate (based on uniformity and internal texture).
The orange piece could be natural (carnelian) but needs backlighting to confirm.
Subject: Mixed U.S. coins (macro photograph)
Types visible:
Lincoln cent (penny) – copper-colored coin with Abraham Lincoln portrait.
Jefferson nickel – coin showing Monticello on the reverse.
Likely additional nickels and cents stacked or partially visible.
The coins show corrosion, oxidation, and patina, especially on the copper-based coins.
Description
A high-magnification macro photograph of overlapping U.S. coins arranged in a loose pile. The composition emphasizes surface textures—scratches, ridges, corrosion, and metallic reflections.
Key visual features:
Copper pennies display brown oxidation and patches of blue-green corrosion.
Nickels appear silver-gray with dull wear and faint tarnish.
The blue-green areas are typical verdigris, a corrosion layer that forms on copper alloys when the metal reacts with oxygen, moisture, and environmental chemicals.
Verdigris ranges from turquoise to deep green and develops as copper oxidizes and forms copper salts on the surface.
The coin edges and relief details (lettering, Lincoln portrait, Monticello columns) are sharply defined, suggesting a macro or focus-stacked photograph emphasizing texture and detail.
Photographically, the image highlights:
metallic reflectivity
corrosion color contrasts (brown copper vs blue-green patina)
overlapping geometric forms
fine surface relief from minting
Materials
Pennies: copper or copper-plated zinc
Nickels: copper-nickel alloy
Copper in these alloys is responsible for the green patina when oxidized.
Visual/Conceptual Themes
Aging and oxidation
Everyday objects in extreme detail
Money and material value
Industrial textures
Color contrast (copper brown / turquoise corrosion / silver nickel)
Hollyhock Seeds
Trying out the Focus Stacking function of the E-M1 with the 12-100 lens.
Olympus E-M1 MkIII
Olympus 12-100mm
A small and common Coccinella septempunctata beetle on a common Apiaceae plant. :-)
Stack info: Canon 5D Mark II, Canon MP-E 65 lens
26 natural light exposures at f4.0, ISO 100
Magnification: 1.0X
Playing with focus stacking, I placed a few of my favorite marbles in a vintage ceramic ashtray that looks like Bauer or Fiestaware but it has none of the usual markings on the bottom.
Olympus E-M1.3
Olympus 12-100mm
A female predatory ambush bug (Phymata americana) hiding in Stiff Goldenrod flowers. They were quite common, all in Stiff Goldenrods. Hidden Valley, Qu'Appelle Valley, Saskatchewan, Canada. 8 September 2021
Numbers: 21 spp. in our area, ~110 total(1)
Identification
Scutellum triangular and shorter than pronotum, protarsi small but distinct(2)(3)
obsolete key to spp. in (4)
key to two eastern spp. in (5)
key to 5 spp. present or likely to occur in AL in (6)
NB: "Strong intraspecific morphological variation, outdated species distributions, and insufficient species descriptions make identifications problematic. Keys are difficult to decipher, and lack recently described species. These factors have left many museums with large holdings of unidentified or incorrectly identified specimens." (Frankenberg et al. 2013)
Range: primarily the New World, widespread in NA; in our area, most diverse in w/sw US(1)
Habitat: typically on flowers in open or semi-open habitats
Food" small insects and other arthropods
Life Cycle
"Coupling may involve several males riding around on a single female. Sometimes it allows them to take down larger prey, although coupling individuals have been found each with their own prey as well. Mating occurs with the male mounted on the side of the female" (comment by drswanny). bugguide.net/node/view/4833
These appear to be moon snail shells (family Naticidae), not mixed shell families.
The overall shape is the key: all five are smooth, rounded to globose shells with a very low spire, which is characteristic of moon snails.
Most likely IDs:
Top left, top right, and lower right: Colorful Moon Snail / Gaudy Nautica (Naticarius canrena), or very close relatives.
This species is known for a smooth globe-shaped shell with spiral bands crossed by dark zigzag markings, which matches these patterned shells very well.
Lower left pink shell: a Shark Eye / Moon Snail type, probably a worn or bleached shark eye (Neverita duplicata or similar moon snail).
Shark-eye shells are typically round, smooth, broad, and low-spired, often in pale cream, tan, or pinkish tones.
Lower center dark brown shell: also a moon snail shell, but more worn and harder to place to species from this single view. It still fits Naticidae by its rounded profile and low spiral.
Description
This is a compact group of polished-looking marine gastropod shells with strong spiral geometry.
Four show bold black-to-brown zigzag striping on pale backgrounds, while one is a soft matte pink with a clean “bull’s-eye” spiral.
The image works well because the shells share the same basic form but vary strongly in pattern and color.
Confidence
Family ID (moon snails / Naticidae): high
Patterned shells as Colorful Moon Snail / Gaudy Nautica (Naticarius canrena): moderate
Pink shell as Shark Eye (Neverita duplicata or similar): moderate
Exact species for the dark brown center shell: low to moderate
Most likely ID: star turban shells / star shells in the family Turbinidae, probably in the Astraea / Astralium group. Based on the shell form, these look closest to Astraea heliotropium or a related spiny star shell, but I would not treat the species-level ID as certain from this single view alone. WoRMS lists Astraea heliotropium as a marine gastropod in Turbinidae, and reference descriptions for that species emphasize a depressed-conic shell with a strongly carinated edge and prominent triangular recurved spines, which matches the overall form seen here.
Confidence: moderate for family/group, lower for exact species.
Detailed description
These are marine gastropod shells, not bivalves. Each shell is a heavy, spiral, top-shaped form with:
* a low conical spire
* a strongly defined outer shoulder/periphery
* multiple short, blunt to pointed radial spines or knobs around that outer edge
* coarse spiral ridging and growth sculpture
* a dark brown to purplish-black exterior
* irregular chalky white encrustation or worn calcareous surface over parts of the whorls
That combination gives them a rugged, armored appearance. Star shells in Turbinidae are known for exactly this kind of spiny, sculptured shell architecture. Astraea heliotropium in particular is described as large and heavy, with convex whorls and prominent compressed triangular recurved spines along the periphery.
In your photo, the shells appear weathered or beachworn rather than fresh. The whitish areas likely represent surface wear, erosion, or attached calcareous growth that has obscured some original color and finer sculpture. The darker bands and ridges still show through, especially on the upper whorls and along the spiny shoulder.
Why this ID fits
The strongest clues are:
* turban-like spiral shell
* flattened to low-conic profile
* conspicuous peripheral spines
* heavy, sculptured shell rather than smooth, glossy whorls
Those features are characteristic of star turbans / star shells within Turbinidae. WoRMS and MolluscaBase recognize both Astraea and Bolma as turbinid genera, and both can produce robust spiny shells, but the flatter, more star-like outline here leans more toward the Astraea/Astralium-type shell shape than a higher-spired Bolma form.
Close look-alikes
Because exact species ID from one angle is uncertain, these are the main alternatives:
1. Astraea heliotropium — sunburst star turban / circular saw shell
Best match for the broad, flattened, spiny, star-edged profile.
2. Other Astraea or Astralium species
Several related star shells share the same low-spired, strongly carinated, spiny outline. WoRMS shows Astraea as a valid genus and includes related taxa historically treated under nearby names.
3. Bolma species
Also turbinids and often spiny, but many Bolma shells are somewhat more rounded or differently proportioned than the shells in your image.
Photographic description
The image shows three spiny sea snail shells arranged side by side against a warm tan-brown background. Their dark ridged whorls and pale worn centers create a strong contrast. The repeated spiral centers and jagged silhouettes give the composition a rhythmic, almost sculptural quality. Visually, they read as textural natural objects rather than polished collector specimens.
aus 20 Aufnahmen mit schrittweise nach hinten verlagertem Focuspunkt in PS zusammengesetzt --
composed of 10 shots with the focus point gradually shifted backwards in PS
here the final result
This appears to be a mixed assortment of rough translucent mineral specimens, most likely a commercial lot of tumbled/rough semi-precious stones left in natural or lightly broken form, not a single mineral species.
Most likely materials visible here include:
Quartz varieties — clear quartz, milky quartz, and possibly smoky quartz
Amethyst — pale to medium purple pieces
Citrine-colored quartz or heat-altered quartz — yellow to honey tones
Green fluorite or green glassy mineral — some of the pale green translucent pieces
Rose quartz or pink quartz-like material — pale pink pieces
Possibly a few beryl-, fluorite-, or glass-like pieces mixed in
Confidence: moderate for “mixed rough crystal/gemstone assortment,” lower for assigning every individual piece to a specific mineral from the photo alone.
Why
The pieces are translucent to transparent
Many show conchoidal fracture or irregular broken surfaces rather than well-formed crystal faces
Color range is broad: purple, pink, green, blue, clear, amber, smoky brown
Several pieces have internal fractures, veils, and iron-colored staining or residue
Description
This is a dense grouping of rough, unpolished translucent stones photographed against a white background. The stones vary from nearly colorless to pastel purple, green, blue, pink, amber, and smoky brown. Most pieces are irregularly shaped, with broken edges, internal inclusions, and glossy fracture surfaces that catch the light. A number of stones have rusty orange staining or embedded mineral discoloration, which adds contrast against the otherwise glassy appearance. The overall effect is colorful, crystalline, and textural.